


But You Shouldn't Have

by Liz_87



Category: Casualty (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-04
Updated: 2020-06-04
Packaged: 2021-03-04 04:41:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,356
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24537880
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Liz_87/pseuds/Liz_87
Summary: Charlie originally bought Duffy a much more elaborate 40th birthday present but bottled out of giving it to her. Series 15. Prequel of sorts to I Don't Deserve You.
Relationships: Lisa "Duffy" Duffin/Charlie Fairhead
Kudos: 1





	But You Shouldn't Have

Charlie wandered aimlessly through the town centre. It was his day off and he'd come shopping determined to find a gift for Duffy's upcoming birthday. Unfortunately, however, he had no idea what to buy her. What exactly was the perfect gift to buy your best friend of 15 years, someone you'd been to hell and back with, but, ultimately, would always be just tantilisingly out of reach? He couldn't get away with just any old rubbish this year either, oh no, this year was special. The big 4-0. Though she'd hate him for reminding her of that fact. As far as he was concerned she didn't look a day over 30 so he wasn't sure what she was so worried about! 

Feeling a tug on his hand, he was pulled from his thoughts and looked down into the eyes of a very bored looking Louis. 

"Sorry, was daddy daydreaming? So what do you think we should buy your Aunt Duffy for her birthday hmm?" 

Louis looked around and his eyes suddenly lit up as he began to drag Charlie in the direction of a large toyshop a little further up the road. 

-x-

It had taken a good half hour and the buying of several new toy dinosaurs to finally drag Louis out of the toy shop. Continuing further into the shopping centre, they'd wandered round a couple of department stores looking at various cosmetics and bath products. He'd almost bought one of the sets he'd seen but then he'd remembered that women can be quite particular about that sort of thing and he'd probably end up getting it wrong. He'd dismissed the idea of chocolates too - she'd no doubt complain that she was on some kind of stupid diet yet again. As far as he was concerned she looked perfect, she had a beautiful figure but he could never tell her that. No, she'd get all embarrassed and shy with him. Plus it would mean having to admit that he'd been looking at her that way which he was sure was not the way a married man should be looking at his equally married best friend. 

Stepping into a card shop Charlie decided to give up on looking for a gift for a while and concentrate on getting a card instead. Finding the correct section in the store he set about showing the various options to Louis. After a few moments he grabbed out at a red card with cartoon figures on it and, perfect, a huge badge on the front! He could already imagine her face going the same colour as the card when he made her wear it all shift! If she tried to refuse he'd just get Louis to convince her, she wouldn't be able to say no to a four year old! 

He paid for the card and exited the store. Directly opposite was a small jeweller's shop. Without really thinking he found himself wandering into it. Louis was starting to look a little tired so Charlie lifted him up onto his hip whilst he looked in the various cabinets. He paused in front of a display of necklaces and bracelets. An assistant came over. 

"Are you looking for a present for your wife, sir? I might be able to help you." 

"No! Um, I mean, she's just a friend. It's for her birthday. I'll, er, just keep looking thanks." Charlie stammered. 

Charlie continued to stare at the cabinet for a few minutes before deciding to give up. He turned to leave but as he did the light shining on one particular bracelet caught his eye. It was slightly off to one side in the cabinet and, unlike the other bracelets that were chunky or had charms on them, it was made of two delicate strands of silver entwined together. It was perfect and dainty enough to fit her tiny wrists. He attracted the attention of the assistant. 

"Can I please have that bracelet?" He said pointing at the cabinet. 

"Of course sir. That will be £50." 

Charlie opened his wallet and realised that he only had £30 on him. 

"Ah right, I'm going to need to get some more cash out. Can you wrap it for me whilst I pop to the cashpoint?" 

"We do accept card payments sir." 

"Um, yeh, it's probably best that I pay cash. I won't be long." 

He quickly withdrew the extra money and paid for the bracelet before heading home, his mission completed. 

-x-

Over the next few days Charlie put the wheels in motion on his plan for Duffy's birthday. He arranged for all the staff to gather down the pub to surprise her after her shift. The tricky part had been working out how to get her to the pub in the first place. He'd ended up being forced to ask Max, a choice he'd not been best pleased with. To throw her off the scent further he'd decided to pop into work the morning of her birthday to give her the card and gift he'd bought her. She'd reacted just as he'd expected to the badge. 

He was just pinning the badge on her tunic when the office door opened. As if things weren't awkward enough already! She was wriggling so much that he'd already managed to accidently brush his hand against her breast twice. As a result, he couldn't look her in the eye, choosing instead to focus on the task at hand. Though he'd been relieved not to be looking at her as he heard Dan ask if he was interrupting anything. 

It seemed to fall to him this time to deny anything inappropriate was going on between them. He stopped short of uttering the clichéd "we're just good friends" line - surely one day someone was going to see through to the utter nonsense that lay behind that, well, lie was too strong a word. Untruthful facade was probably a better way to describe it. 

It was while Dan was talking that Charlie began to feel increasingly nervous about his choice of gift. He was a fool, he should have picked something else, the bracelet would raise too many awkward questions! He couldn't give it to her, even though it was perfect for her, for them. The way the two strands of the bracelet intertwined - just like their lives over the years they'd known each other. 

He'd made his excuses and left. It was on the way to the zoo that he'd decided to pick something else as her gift. In a panic to have something, anything, to give her he'd let Louis pick something in the giftshop. That something had been a bright yellow stress ball with a smiley face on it. When he gave it to her Charlie thought he spotted a hint of disappointment lurking in her eyes which she quickly hid behind an incredulous expression which had morphed into amusement as she began to play with the toy.

-x-

It was much later that evening after Louis was fast asleep and Charlie was getting ready for bed when he next thought about the bracelet. Taking the box out of his inside pocket he opened it and picked the bracelet up. Draping it over his fingers he stared at the beautiful simplicity of the design. Sighing, he placed it gently back in its box and closed the lid. He'd briefly considered returning it to the jeweler's but found he couldn't bare to. Opening his wardrobe door he reached up to pull down a box that was pushed towards the back of the shelf. He opened the lid carefully - contained within the box were a handful of items that held great meaning for Charlie. Lifting up a few of the items, Charlie hid the bracelet underneath them and placed the box back on the shelf. 

As he closed the wardrobe door he made a pact with himself that one day he would place the bracelet on her wrist and tell her the story behind it. One day, probably a long time from now when they'd stopped trying to run from the inevitable and finally accepted the truth.


End file.
